I’m kind of an accident prone person. If there’s a single tree standing in a desert you can be sure I’ll run into it. Over the years I’ve had many ridiculous encounters ranging from running into a wall, falling out of a window, getting stuck in a cupboard, tripping into a door, tumbling down a flight of stairs and running into a tree, but the list is quite long.

It’s for those reasons the Final Destination films have always made me a bit nervous. Despite being a life-long fan of horror, there’s just something a little too true to life with these bizarre accidents as death hunts down unfortunate disaster survivors.

Everyday household items, routines and places we’re all familiar with suddenly start to look very threatening and like a potential death trap.

Final Destination 5 continues that tradition and while I wasn’t a fan of the franchise after the third film and decided to skip the fourth, this one I can definitely say remains very true to the original and brings the idea of sequel full circle.

The opening sequence takes place on a suspension bridge which of course collapses in typically gory fashion, but before that happens the film sets us up nicely with the character introductions.

Very quickly we see who the main characters are, Sam (Nicholas D’Agosto) and his ex-girlfriend Molly (Emma Bell), and who the fresh meat are; the obnoxious guy, Isaac (P. J. Byrne), the gymnast, Candice (Ellen Wroe), her boyfriend Peter (Miles Fisher) the diva, Olivia (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), the steel worker, Nathaniel (Arlen Escarpeta) and their boss, Dennis (David Koechner).

They’re all on a bus headed for a retreat when Sam has a vision of the doom that awaits them. Sam manages to save 7 of them before the collapsing bridge claimed them all. While the news reports brand them the “lucky 8” for their miraculous escape of the disaster, Agent Block (Courtney B. Vance) thinks there’s more than meets the eye, as Olivia soon finds out!

With its opening and closing credits, Final Destination 5 pays tribute to every single death sequence in the franchise, but in between that is a story that’s tense, frightening and filled with dark, bloody and bone crunching humour as Death makes its rounds.

The laser eye surgery sequence is a nerve shredding experience but so is the gymnastics scene while a visit to the health spa reeks of bitter irony.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Circle of Death (05:23)

Alternate Death Scene: Acupuncture (10:25)

Alternate Death Scene: Lasik (05:17)

Visual Effects of Death: Collapsing Bridge (09:14)

Tony Todd makes a much welcomed return to the franchise with his role as William Bludworth, the coroner who’s seen enough death to understand what’s going with the “lucky” 8. While it’s great to see him back, what I felt was missing in this near perfect film was further exploration of the mystery and nature of death as the idea of killing someone to take your place on Death’s list comes into play.

The first film and second films did such a great job at getting us to think about fate, destiny, free will and predetermination but the others haven’t matched that kind of philosophical enquiry. To be fair though, that’s not why most people to go see a film like this which laughs in the face of health and safety. As Bludworth says, “You all just be careful now.”

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Jesse’s Lost Journal was conceived as my subtext writings while making Nightmare on Elm Street 2. I stay true to the film until late in the game and then bear off in a new direction, bringing Jesse up to date and letting you see he is quite alive and doing just fine...